GASabresIUFAN

Other than the goalie coach, no member of this coaching staff should return next season.

No amount of staying the course will change the complacent culture permeating this failed organization. We need substantive change. We need accountably at all levels of the organization. We need leaders in the clubhouse who will install a winning attitude in the players and accept nothing less. To his credit KA thought Clifton and Johnson might help in that area, but to truly help in that area the player(s) need to be making significant contributions on the ice as well as in the locker-room. Sadly, both UFAs failed on the ice, so no one cared what they said off the ice. Think Teppo and Drury for good examples. Finding a top 9 center who plays significant minutes and has a Cup or two would help. We need a stronger coach. One that will bench star players when they don't give 100% each shift or call out the entire team when they fail to play hard from the opening puck drop again and again. We also need better assist coaches. We need a special teams coach and a forward coach who know what the hell their doing. We need a better GM or a team President who will fire the current GM if the team struggles out of the gate next season. To be honest, I'm sick of our Howdy Doody GM and his lame excuses for being bad at his job. The organization needs someone who knows how to build a championship roster as KA has not a clue. We also need to hear from the darn owner. He needs to come out and say that the team isn't living up to the standard he expects and if this continues next season heads will roll. The off-season should be marked with two words: "Accountability & Winning." No more with the plan and patient development.

Bo knows hockey In his last 11 games he has 0 goals, 1 assist and is -6. I guess the Sabres no accountability culture has already won him over.

The Sabres have failed to give the required effort to start games from the opening puck drop of the season. No adjustments have been made because there is no accountability in this organization. The players lack of effort to start games is a reflection of a failing locker-room culture where winning and effort aren’t demanded. Instead, after they win or lose they go hang out, play video games and count their bloated paychecks. The coaches also don’t demand accountability. The practices aren’t tough, no “important” players have been benched. There has been no media callouts like the one that motivated Nashville. Despite the poor results, no players have been traded because of poor play and all the coaches remain and look like they’ll be retained. The GM, who clearly has no idea how to build a roster, seems satisfied with the failing status quo and the ownership seems satisfied with the GM and coaches. There are literally no incentives in this organization to get better. Hard to win that way. The only significant player traded was Casey Mittelstadt. He was about the only player on the team, except UPL, that gave a consistent winning effort, because KA didn’t want to pay him. What kind of message does that send?

I think you mean EPIC run to 9th place

No, not really. This season is almost of the opposite of last year. Last year the forward play was good, but the D play was terrible as was the goaltending most of the year. The PP was good for the 1st 3rd of last year, but the PK sucked all year. They also played with much more urgency last season after the long losing streak early in the year. This is why I'm in the fire DG and his staff camp. They literally coached the heart out of this team and in the process made the team slow out of the gate, stifled the offense and completely un-entertaining.

What is keeping us out of the playoffs is a lack of urgency from the start of the season and at the start of games coupled with lousy goaltending in the 1st third of the season, our terrible PP and poor forward play for most of the season.

IF they were great at making adjustments, the win total would be significantly higher.

Sabres goals allowed in the 1st period - 91 (worst in the NHL) Sabres goals for in the 1st period - 59 (7th worst in the NHL) Sabres 1st period differential - -32 (2nd worst in the NHL) (Chicago is -33, Ana - 19, Stl -13) Sabres differential for the season 0. That means we are +32 the rest of the game. Sabres wins when leading after the 1st period 15 (6th worst in the NHL). Win % when leading after 1 = .833 (8th best in the NHL) Wins when leading after the 2nd period - 23 (22nd in the NHL). Sabres win % when leading after 2 periods = .920 (3rd best in the NHL). The stats illustrate that the Sabres slow starts killed this season. When the Sabres did come out strong, they nearly always won. The coaching was unsuccessful in solving the problem of the slow starts. Since KA isn't getting rid of the players, he needs to move on from the coaches that couldn't find a solution to the slow starts.

Who knows and who cares. He isn't making us better now and likely won't next year. We need players who make us better now if we are ever to make the playoffs. He spent this most of this season getting knocked on his butt and taking stupid penalties. He should have been sent down and Adams should have not wasted this season of his ELC. The bad news is they'll waste next year as well since he won't be eligible to play in the AHL next season. The even worse news is that in year 3 when he finally blossom's, instead of having two years left on his deal, we'll have to pony up a big contract. This is another example of the terrible and incompetent asset management by KA and his crew of idiots. I'd trade Benson since we have Savoie and see if I can get a good young center or a top 4 D in return.

The question is who can we get to make this team better and what will it cost to acquire that talent? IMHO everyone is on the table depending on the offer. Who exactly has done enough to be indispensable? Quinn? JJP? Who? The Sabres needs are vast. They need a top 9 center (I want a top 6 center, but I'm trying to be realistic), preferably someone who can distribute the puck. They need more physical forwards and they need one or more defensive first D. We also need some play hard and win type plays who don't accept losing graciously. The run it back team looks like this: Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Benson (Krebs) Greenway Girgensons (UFA) ?????? Robinson (UFA) Dahlin Byram Power Jokiharju Samuelsson Clifton R Johnson UPL/Levi I don't think the "run it back" strategy is a good one. This team needs for accountability. I'm willing to trade Power, Benson, Tuch, Skinner, TNT, R Johnson, Samuelsson and even Levi or UPL depending on the return. I'm also willing to part with any of Savoie, Kulich, or Rosen in the right deal. I'm not saying blow the thing up, but you need to give to get. Time to stop coddling failure.

Send them packing.

5-0 deficit in the 1st period to Ottawa. I say we should expect more. Both KA and DG need to go. This team has regressed this season despite vast improvements from UPL, Joki and JJP, and the addition of Clifton. This team was unprepared for the start of the season and comes out slow most nights. The PP has remained awful for the entire campaign. The slow starts and PP are on the coaching staff and they need to go. The lack of goaltending since Ullmark left and the failed 3 headed goalie monster that was terrible (all 3 goalies) to start the season is on the GM, and he should lose his job because of it. For all the "great" drafting, we still don't have what we really need and that is toughness, playmaking and good in zone defensemen. The sad part is who wants to work for Pegula?

Is UPL a little worn out at this point?

Thank G-d my fantasy baseball draft was tonight and I didn't have to watch.

"Sabres unable to overcome 5-0 deficit." https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-ottawa-senators-at-the-horn-recap-march-27-2024 LMAO - really, they couldn't overcome a 5-0 deficit? I'm shocked. They keep playing like this, they may not even reach 81 pts.

Accountability - Sabres. LOL

Jeff has a NMC and isn't going anywhere unless he wants to go. The opportunity to move on is next trade deadline if the Sabres aren't in a playoff position. However, no way TP pays $14 Million to Jeff not to play for the Sabres (nearly $20 mill in cap over the 6 years).

Kevyn and Don, should we really expect more after four years? Yes. It's not like they had nothing to work with when they got here. Cozens, Montour, Reinhart, Eichel, Dahlin, Ullmark, Samuelsson, Ryan Johnson, Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, UPL, and Bryson were all in the system or already on the Sabres when he arrived. That's the makings of a pretty fine hockey club had he and the Sabres stuck with it. They (He and TP) decided to jettison the "old" core of Reinhart, Montour, Risto and Eichel after the RK debacle which is fine, but they have to live with the consequences. Besides that, the Sabres should have been a playoff team for the last two seasons. Had Adams simply invested in some decent goalies while the prospects developed this team would have made the playoffs in 22/23 and likely would have built of that success this season and be where Detroit is right now. So yes, we should have expected more and they should have delivered more.

What? How is it anything but good news that an injured player is back? It’s good for the player to be back and playing. It’s good for the team to get a talented player back in the lineup. Would I have liked him back when the games were still meaningful? Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that it is good news that he’s back.

To gain experience. To try to build some chemistry with other important players. To prove to himself he is healthy enough to play.

@Ogelthorpe you don’t believe that it’s good news that Quinn is back with the team? You’d prefer he remain injured?

There is certainly some correlation between experience and success in the NHL. It doesn’t mean a young team can’t make the playoffs, but it’s hard. The funny thing is the Sabres could be even younger next year as they have traded away EJ and KO, and Z, VO, Bryson, Robinson and Comrie are FAs. Add together the 20 players under contract and control who are scheduled to return next season and the average age is currently 24, 25 for next season. Add more kids from the minors and the age drops further. That said, this team has a fair amount of experience for a young team and should be better next season. Of the 8 skaters 23 and under only Benson (rookie) and Quinn (IR) have under 150 games of NHL experience. The other 6 guys average 227 games. The other good news is that there is a log jam of mediocre teams in the East. TB, Wash, and Pit are headed down. Ott and the NYI are in no man’s land. Det and Philly look to be improving but aren’t impressive. A good offseason by Adams such as better forward depth including another Greenway type player, plus a 3rd and 4th line centers should have this team solidly in the playoff mix.

I voted for Other. There is no one on the team I dislike. There are players like Bryson, Z and Jost that I think we no longer need, but I don’t dislike them or the effort they give. Thompson is my biggest disappointment. I am a fan of JJP and have been one since I saw him play at the World Jrs. I disliked ROR and his brother, because I didn’t think they were good people. I dislike Marchand because I think he is a punk who gets too much leeway from the officials. There is no one currently on the Sabres that I feel like I do about ROR or Marchand. It’s kind of hard to dislike a bunch of kids.